Pre/post GH stack labs — IGF-1 jumped from 210 to 340, thoughts?

That's a big but not unheard-of response for that dose. I've seen a handful of people go from ~200 to 320+ on 100/200 CJC-NoDAC/Ipa 5x/wk. The insulin nudge is also expected — GH axis activation does this, it's why we watch a1c.

What time did you dose relative to the draw? If you dosed within 4-6h of the draw you'll get an inflated IGF-1 acute bump.

Last dose was evening before at ~10pm, draw was ~8am the next morning, so ~10h gap. Should be close to steady-state.

Steady state is basically the answer then. 341 is a real number. I wouldn't call you a 'high responder' exactly — more like upper-normal responder. IGF-1 response to GH secretagogues follows a wide distribution.

Honestly the more interesting number is your insulin going 6.2 -> 8.8. Still in range but that's a meaningful direction. HOMA-IR went from ~1.35 to ~2.04 — you crossed the line some people draw at 2.0 for 'metabolic attention'.

HOMA-IR calc for others reading: (glucose mg/dL * insulin mIU/L) / 405. So 886.2/405 = 1.35 baseline, 948.8/405 = 2.04 now. cbc is right, that's a real move.

Before the 'OMG insulin resistance' reads — within-person CV for fasting insulin is ~10-15%, sometimes higher. A single 6.2 vs 8.8 pair is ONE datapoint. Would be stronger with 2-3 draws at each end.

^ this. Also, the a1c move is real but small. 5.2 -> 5.4 is within the assay's ~3% CV too, though trending the 'wrong' way. I'd want a retest at week 16-20 before getting nervous.

Appreciate the sanity check. Plan is to hold dose, retest at week 16. If insulin keeps climbing I'll back to 4x/wk.

For what it's worth — my IGF-1 response to 100/200 CJC-NoDAC/Ipa was much smaller (178 -> 246). So responder variance is real. Your a1c move mirrors what I saw (5.1 -> 5.3 over 10 weeks). I don't think your data is alarming, just expected direction of travel.

Curious — did you change diet/training at all during the 9 weeks? GH stacks tend to make people eat more (appetite from the GHRP side) and that alone can nudge insulin.

Yeah, ate ~300 kcal/day more in the first 5 weeks on appetite. Settled back down. So there's a confound.

Pull an ALT too next round if you didn't. GH axis stuff can bump LFTs modestly, nothing scary usually but nice to have in the dataset.

The 127 ng/mL jump is squarely within published CJC-1295/ipamorelin response distributions (most studies show ~80-160 point increases at similar doses, wide variance). You're unremarkable, which here is good news.

Tagging along — what's your sleep looking like? GH pulses are sleep-dependent and people who sleep better on GHRP stacks get bigger IGF-1 pops than people who don't change sleep.

Sleep has been noticeably deeper. Whoop deep sleep went from ~72 min avg to ~95 min. So that tracks.

This thread is exactly why I lurk here. Saved.

One more thought: IGFBP-3 went 4.1 -> 5.3. The IGF-1 / IGFBP-3 molar ratio is almost unchanged, which is actually reassuring — means the free IGF-1 isn't running away from the binding protein. Some protocols push IGF-1 without moving IGFBP-3 and that's where people get edema/CTS.

That's a great frame, thank you. Will report back at the 16-week retest.

The insulin/glucose creep is real and honestly the part nobody talks about enough. CJC no-DAC at that dose is pushing your baseline GH secretion hard, and more GH = insulin resistance, full stop. Your fasting glucose went up 6 points and insulin went up 2.6 mIU/L which tracks. I'd be more worried about the A1c trend than the IGF-1 number itself, especially if you run this longer. What does your postprandial glucose look like? That'll tell you if you're actually metabolizing carbs worse or if it's just the fasting state getting a little less insulin sensitive.